Even though it’s late October my garden still offers me beautiful treasures. My marigold and cornflowers are still in full bloom. Not only are they beautiful to look at, they are useful in so many ways, like the bath room cabinet.

I’m going to show you how I make one of my base oils with marigold. This can be used as it is or as an ingredient in ointments.

Marigold, which in latin is called Calendula Officials, is a rich fragrant flower and during the autumn and winter months I use the oil made from the flower in different ointments. Marigold is known for its beneficial properties to the skin. The flower contains a lot of flavonoids and carotenoids which is where it gets it’s vibrant color. Sometimes marigold is even called fals saffron.

The flower contains inflammatory inhibitors and have astringent properties which makes it exceptionally good to use on dry, sensitive, damaged skin, eczema, burns and different types of wounds. According to herbal medicin Marigold can also diminish pore size, heal bunions, warts and similar inconveniences.

This is how I make my marigold oil:

Always pick the flowers during the day when they are open. When the evening comes the flower close themselves up and becomes night accommodations for small beetles, ladybugs and other little bugs. Pick the petals off and the inner core of the flower but don’t use any of the green.

During the time I pick and tend to the flowers I sterilise a glas jar. You sterilise the jar by setting the oven to 270 ° F for 30 minutes. Let the jar cool off a bit.

I then put the petals in the jar and cover them with cold pressed organic olive oil, just enough so it covers them and then some.

Put the lid on tightly and give it a shake. Now here’s the hard part. During the next 10 days you are to shake the jar several times a day. If you should notice something white and fluffy in the jar, it’s mold. Unfortunately the only thing to do is to pour the oil in the trash and start over cause the spores has established themselves throughout the whole jar and told isn’t something you’d want on your skin.

After 7-10 days, seep the oil through a fine seep.

Store the oil in a sterile coloured glas bottle. I use this during winter diluted 1:3 with cold pressed organic olive oil as a facial oil which works well with any skin type that tends to be fragile during winters harsh weather.

*** Always read up on the herb you are going to use before. Many herbs can be harmful if you don’t use the correct dosage, long-term usage, if you use the wrong part of the plant or if you have a medical condition. For children and pregnant special rules almost always applies. If you’re on any medication always consult your doctor before using the herb so it won’t interact with your medication.